Industry preparedness of graduates: a perception on chemical engineering education in the Philippines

Abstract

This study assessed the chemical engineering education in the Philippines through the perception on the level of preparedness by the chemical engineering graduates and the chemical engineering practitioners. It used an exploratory research approach to further discover the gap between the quality of the graduates and the expectations of the industry in terms of the desired competencies and skills for the chemical engineering program in the Philippines. Two sets of survey instruments were deduced, pre-tested and administered to the chemical engineering graduates and practitioners.  The competencies and skills were referred from the Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Order (CMO) Number 23 series of 2008 and CMO Number 91 series of 2017, which is the backbone of every Philippine chemical engineering academic institution. Both graduates and chemical engineering practitioners agreed that they have attained the desired knowledge, design and professional attributes, teamwork skills, leadership and interpersonal skills as exhibited by the newly-hired chemical engineers in various fields of specialization. Significant differences in the perception on the ethical and professional responsibility towards community and environmental solutions was observed under knowledge, application of engineering in the design attributes, and the ability to know the contemporary and global issues in the professional attributes.  Application of the subject matters in the chemical engineering program was identified as the top area that needs to be improved.